CONTESTING THE VOTE: THE BIG NEWS

CONTESTING THE VOTE: THE BIG NEWS; Floridians at Last Have a Vote to Cheer

By RICK BRAGG

Published: December 11, 2000

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Dec. 10—
All day Saturday and into that evening, people here waited hopefully for a decision, an outcome. They sat in front of television sets and watched experts analyze the contest and theorize on first one candidate, then another. Others gathered in bars, restaurants and just on sidewalks, talking in small groups, hoping, some even praying.

It was not just the big story, it was the only story.

Would a winner ever be named, in what had become one of the closest contests in history?

It seemed, to them, to take forever.

Then, on Saturday evening, the question on so many minds was finally answered. The candidate who had won the hearts and souls of most people here had the votes he needed.

It was over.

''I was shocked,'' Chris Weinke, quarterback for the Florida State University Seminoles, told reporters after winning the Heisman Trophy.

That other thing, the recount mess, might not be over -- and may never be over, it seems to many people -- but that story was overwhelmed here in the Florida Panhandle. Tallahassee, after all, is home to both the Florida Supreme Court and Florida State University.

Many, many beers were emptied. Many, many war cries rang through the night. Many, many people, rescue workers said, were still drunk when the sun came up.

The presidential election could wait, and would wait, anyway. Waiting is what it has been about. The United States Supreme Court on Saturday halted the recount ordered by the Florida Supreme Court, so Tallahassee, as reporters said, was no longer the story, anyway.

In Tallahassee, where the Seminoles are heading toward what many here hope will be another national college football championship, Mr. Weinke, a senior quarterback, had won the nation's highest individual football award. As in the presidential race, it was close. He edged Josh Heupel, the quarterback at Oklahoma, 1,628 votes to 1,552.

''I voted for Bush, but every vote should be counted,'' said Travis Oaks, 40, at Tallahassee's Central Fire Station. He could live with the winner, no matter who it was.

So, he was asked, if Mr. Weinke had been edged out by Mr. Heupel or some other candidate, would he be satisfied with that outcome, too? ''No,'' he said immediately. ''That's two different things, presidential politics and football. In football, it's win at all costs.''

Some people had doubted that Mr. Weinke would win the Heisman because of his age. He is old for a college athlete at 28, after delaying his college football career to play minor league baseball.

The top story in The Tallahassee Democrat, the day after a dizzying, history-making day in that other big contest, carried a dignified banner headline:

''Weinke credits Heisman win to experience.''

Beneath that, was this:

''Court cuts short recount.''

That, said many people here, was how it should have been.

''It the biggest story in this city,'' said T. J. Almond, a student at Florida State who is majoring in applied economics.

At the Tallahassee Central Fire Station, firefighters said it was just more fun to talk about one race -- the Heisman contest -- than the other.

''Football here is big time,'' said Mr. Oaks. ''The big story here would be if we did not have a quarterback or running back in the Heisman race.''

The Heisman competition would have taken precedence anyway, he said, but the on-and-on presidential race has worn people down and numbed their interest.

People here found comfort in the Heisman victory for another reason, Mr. Oaks said. For weeks, Floridians have seen their state ridiculed around the country, and seen it become the focus of late-night television sarcasm and comedy.

''I hate to see Florida look like a bunch of idiots,'' Mr. Oaks said. If some other state had been the deciding one in this election, its elections process, too, would have shown itself to be imperfect, he said.

Football games have a final whistle, and almost always there is a winner and a loser.

Kyle Henson, 11, of Land O' Lakes, Fla., said there had been a little talk in his school about the election, ''but all the people are talking about the Heisman.''

When the presidential election is over, Mr. Weinke will still have an advantage over the president-elect, joked Ed Rosenberg, the manager at A. J.'s sports bar.

''His election,'' Mr. Rosenberg said, ''is more credible.''

Photo: The Tallahassee Democrat yesterday put a college football award to a local player above the state's presidential election dispute. (Chang W. Lee/The New York Times)